• Human Rights in the United States

    The United States, with a history of both promoting and disregarding human rights abroad, has a similarly mixed record at home. The federal government continues abusive counterterrorism policies, including indefinite detention and flawed military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. The criminal justice system is marred by racial disparities and harsh sentences. The US incarcerates more people than any other country, often in conditions that violate inmates’ rights. The rights of immigrants—authorized and unauthorized—are threatened by federal policies, state laws, and the rapid expansion of immigration detention. Finally, the US sometimes fails to provide remedies to survivors of abuse, particularly women and vulnerable groups.   

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United States

  • US: Release Report that Addresses CIA Torture
    Dec 13, 2012
    The US Senate intelligence committee’s long-awaited review of the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret detention and interrogation program after September 11, 2001 should promptly be declassified and released.
  • US: What a Senate Vote for Disabilities Treaty Would Really Mean
    Dec 10, 2012
    When the Senate returns to this treaty in the new Congress, it should approach arguments against ratification with caution. The US is already committed to protecting human rights through its ratification of important human rights treaties. Opponents to CRPD missed that boat many years ago.
  • US: Senate Misses Opportunity on Disability Convention
    Dec 4, 2012
    The United States missed an opportunity to display global leadership on disability rights on December 4, 2012, as the Senate failed to approve ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
  • US: Prison Officials Thwart Compassionate Release
    Nov 30, 2012
    The Federal Bureau of Prisons blocks all but a few federal prisoners from compassionate release, Human Rights Watch and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) said in a report released today. The 128-page report is the first comprehensive examination of how compassionate release in the federal system works.
  • Indefinite Detention Is Already Bad, Don't Add Discrimination
    Nov 29, 2012

    Late last year, Congress passed and the president signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2012. The NDAA codified, for the first time since a never-used McCarthy era law, indefinite detention without charge or trial.

  • Still time for House to do the right thing and pass Senate VAWA bill
    Nov 28, 2012
    Congress is at an impasse over renewing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), the country’s primary national legislation addressing domestic abuse, sexual violence, and stalking. With the remainder of the 112th Congress now a matter of weeks, it is a very real possibility that the act will not be renewed.
  • US: Obama Should Veto NDAA if it Restricts Guantanamo Detainee Transfers
    Nov 27, 2012
    Human Rights Watch and 27 human rights, religious, and civil liberties groups strongly urged President Obama to veto the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 if it impedes his ability to close Guantanamo, by restricting the Executive Branch's authority to transfer detainees for repatriation or resettlement in foreign countries or for prosecution in federal criminal court.
  • US/New York: Few Arrested for Pot Become Violent Criminals
    Nov 23, 2012

    Few of those who enter New York City’s criminal justice system as a result of marijuana possession arrests become dangerous criminals

  • What a values-based foreign policy would look like
    Nov 20, 2012
    Second terms are when presidents start to think about their legacy. And with a first term that earned President Barack Obama strong national security bona fides, he has the opportunity to pursue a robust foreign policy that more closely aligns U.S. values and interests.
  • A Failed Experiment
    Nov 19, 2012
    Following the 9/11 attacks, the United States imprisoned hundreds without trial at Guantánamo and created a new military-commission system there to try terrorism suspects. The system lacked fundamental protections required for fair trials.
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